02/13/2021 – Day 272 – Obadiah (1 Chapter only)- “The Doom of Edom”
I think I will share with you the introduction and the background to this short book from Halley’s Bible Handbook. Then we can share comments afterwards:
Edomites
Edom was the rocky range of mountains east of the Arabah (see page 142), stretching about 100 miles north and south, and about 20 miles east and west. It was well watered, with abundant pasturage, Sela (Petra), carved high in a perpendicular cliff, overlooking a valley of marvelous beauty, far back in the mountain canyons, was the capital. Edomites would go out on raiding expeditions, and then retreat to their impregnable strongholds high up in the rocky gorges.
Edomites were descendants of Esau, but wre always bitter enemies of the Jews, perpetuating the enmity of Esaua nd Jacob (Genesis 25:23, 27:41) They refused passage to Moses (Numbers 20: 14 – 21); and were always ready to aid an attacking army.
(Jimmy insert: Amazing that so little is known about Obadiah that the suggested writing of this book in his lifetime ranges from 850 – 843 B.C. in the reign of Jehoram , ending with 586 B.C. with the reign of Zedekiah. Perhaps the majority vote goes with the later date as verses 11 – 12 mention the destruction of Jerusalem , and this is when Jerusalem was burnt to the ground by the Babylonians. )
Other Scriptures which foretell Edom’s doom are: Isaiah 34: 5-15; Jeremiah 19: 7-22; Ezekiel 25: 12-14; 35: 1-15; Amos 1: 11-12.
Fulfillment of the Prophecy
Obadiah predicted taht the Edomites would be “cut off forever,” and “be as though they had not been” (10,16,18); and that a remnant of Judah would be saved, and that the kingdom of Judah’s God would yet prevail (17,19, 21),
Within 4 years after Jerusalem was burned, Edom was raided and desolated (582 b.c.) by the very same Babylonians whom they had aided against Jerusalem. Nabathaeans took over Edom. The few Edomites that were left were confined to a region of south Judea, where for four centuries they continued to exit, as active enemies of the Jews. In 126 b.c., they were subdued by John Hyrcanus, one of the Maccabean rulers, and were absorbed into the Jewish state. When Palestine was conquered by the Romans (63 B.C.), the Herods, and Edomite (Idumean) family, were placed in control of Judah. This was the last of the Edomites. With the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), they disappeared from history.
Soli Deo Goria!